All Aboard: The buzz on Oracle's Larry Ellison

CBS.MarketWatch.com

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- It's been a long year for Oracle investors. The stock plummeted from its highs in the low 40's almost all the way down to 12. CEO Larry Ellison's detractors had begun to speak out on this controversial leader. "He (Larry Ellison) is more concerned with boating and showing off his toys then spending time addressing Oracle business," writes doughboy701 on Raging Bull?s message board.

"Larry is an innovative leader in this high-tech age. He is the perfect person to lead any high tech organization."

Stockjunky

While not completely sold on Ellison, some believers in Oracle
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still see the stock as a shining star. FoolishDuck posts on The Motley Fool: "My impressions of Larry, he may be a flake but a 'lousy boss'? Na. All big companies have management problems. But the mark of success is the ones that overcome the problems, stay focused, and add to shareholder value?the main reason I am excited as all heck is ORCL and the Internet. Gonna be big ? I?m here for the long haul." These strong words come just a few days before Oracle?s jump -- FoolishDuck is probably grinning ear to ear.

Then there are others who applaud Ellison and his management style. "Larry is an innovative leader in this high-tech age. He is the perfect person to lead any high tech organization ... Oracle is an excellent long-term stock. Every year Oracle's stock has exceeded expectations, except for one year. That year they came in a few dollars under expected projections and investors panicked. Oracle should continue to gain momentum in the upcoming months," Stockjunky, on CBS.MarketWatch.com, rejoices in what appears to be renewed optimism for a stock that has been underperforming in the tech arena for the last six months. Lilou also chimes in on our message boards with staunch support of Ellison, "The only way a company like Oracle will survive and continue to be a hot stock is having a leader like Larry."

Like him or not, Larry Ellison has pulled a rabbit out of his hat this quarter as his stock begins to reach towards its highs. Undoubtedly, Ellison will reap the praises when Oracle performs like it has this week; conversely, he will feel the heat from investors, if and when, the stock endures another rough spell. So goes the topsy-turvy life of a billionaire.

Amazon's Sotheby's stake

The boards have always been ripe with discussion concerning Amazon.com, and investors are given yet another reason to sound off on this Internet marvel. The messages came rolling in when the news hit that Sotheby?s
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sold a $45 million stake in the company to Amazon
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Of course, the partnership brought some differing opinions to the message boards.

Jlanger, on Raging Bull?s boards, doesn?t quite see the benefits, "Are bidders going to be willing to buy super-expensive antiques, etc., on Amazon without directly seeing it. It's like the vintage $200,000 cars they're trying to pawn off on eBay
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Who's buying?" Logicalthought shares some doubt on The Motley Fool, "I'm long Sotheby's and short AMZN. My guess is that this will have a significantly positive impact on Sotheby's $1.5 billion market cap, and a relatively insignificant one on Amazon's $15 billion cap."

Regardless of its detractors, AMZN has a loyal following that seems genuinely pleased with the alliance. Hamlet10 believes that Sotheby?s name lends credibility to Amazon?s auction site. On The Motley Fool?s boards, he states, "Sotheby's is one of the best names in the off-line auction business. The fact that they are willing to partner with Amazon is bullish for AMZN. They will be able to auction things that no one would consider buying on EBay (rarer antiques and collectibles)."

Whether or not this alliance turns out to be beneficial to Amazon remains to be seen. The stock has reacted favorably as the price has climbed nearly 30 points to 119 1/8 in the past couple days before backing off a bit. It closed Thurday up 1 1/4 to 112 15/16. Perhaps some AMZN investors are wary about buying a stake in Sotheby?s, but they can?t complain about the recent bounce their stock has enjoyed.

Blazing on?

After a couple weeks of testing the resolve of many investors, a collective sigh of relief can be heard across the boards as the Nasdaq enjoys quite a run. Some posters look to the global climate as an indication of what might lay ahead. Of course, the boards wouldn?t exist if everyone shared the same sentiments.

Hugo2000, on CBS.MarketWatch.com, sees an extended bull run due to a rosy global outlook, "The bull market will continue because the American economy remains strong and robust. Further, the situation in Russia, Japan and Brazil is much better now than a year ago. Europe is entering in a new bull market after the birth of euro."

Poncho9191 reflects the flip side of hugo2000?s coin on The Motley Fool ? his views of the global economy lead him to believe that there are troubled waters ahead. "I'm more concerned as to the recovery status of the Pacific Rim, and then the status of the euro and the European economy, and then the direction of our friends to the south. I think South America will tank before long with Mexico doing another devaluation in late 2000. I cannot imagine what the Rim will do, or Europe. Either area could trigger a major sell off that would affect all of the US multinational companies, at best they will plod along for a few months."

While there are some posters, like poncho9191?s, that aren?t buying into the recent market rise, many investors on the message boards see a renewed optimism about the direction stocks are heading. One thing that posters are agreeing on ? with everything from the Balkans to the Pacific Rim to the euro, the turbulent global economy will have an impact on the US markets. It remains to be seen if that impact will be positive or negative.

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